Doesn't sound like the TVNZ HR department did very good background checking on this bloke. Be interesting to see who they replace John Campbell with now.
We’ve also learned that the reasonable majority can be frightened and silenced if caught between extremes, while many others can be captured by mass delusions.”
Military budget of the United States 801 Billion (population 329.5 million )
Military budget of China 261 Billion (population 1.402 billion)
Military budget of Russia 66 Billion (population 144.1 million )
And we all know the truly impressive and extremely long list of countries in which the US has conducted hostile incursions into another country's territories….and lets not even start with the USA's role in meddling in other countries elections….that list would be just ridiculous……., and yet people on this very site will scream at the top of their lungs…FEAR RUSSIA….FEAR CHINA…..
Like most of their rhetoric…logic, common sense (and historical evidence) has to be completely ignored in order to join their new Cold War Club…..unfortunately it seems like they are getting plenty of takers now that Putin has wrongly and stupidly given them the gift of the Ukraine….millions of deaths, untold misery and destruction caused and still being caused by ultra aggressive US/Western militarism…forgotten quite literally in the blink of an eye…..
Putin launched this war precisely because he thought the US was weak and not going to intervene.
At the beginning of this year most people thought it unlikely Urkaine would be invaded – yet here we are. And now Russia is rightly feared and loathed for its vile invasion.
China continues to threaten to invade Taiwan, and are openly pre-positioning themselves to do so. Only a complete fool would could now claim this is unlikely. Indeed you only have to look at their insanely provocative actions in the South Pacific to understand precisely what their intentions are. As a result China is also rightly feared and loathed for continuing down this same medieval, war-mongering path as Russia.
Adrian's undeniable cheerleading for these totalitarian regimes and the neo-colonial invasions they promote renders anything he says about US history to meaningless partisan blather. More to the point – if he lived in Russia or China and was saying comparable things against those regimes, he would very likely be shut down and pay a high cost for it. That he feels free to abuse the relative freedom of speech that he enjoys here in the West to undermine and betray the open society he has the remarkable privilege to live in underscores a profound ignorance and moral bankruptcy.
Alternatively Putin launched his SMO because he recognized America's power play in the ukraine and doing nothing about it was'nt an option .
Agree most observers in the west thought he was'nt going to invade but now that has occurred a great many counties arround the world have some sympathies for the Russian perspective and its predicament ie America's openly stated intention to 'weaken ' Russia . Those countries include China obviously plus India and probably Pakistan South Africa Iran Venezuela Mexico and numerous others .
I had a humorous thought that probably all Reds mum would have had to do when he was an infant was whistle Dixie to get him to suckle vigorously !
Throwing propaganda and unhelpful labels at each other leads to more widespread confusion and division, not just between sides, but also within sides and this is often one of the objectives of propaganda – it becomes self-reinforcing.
A useful idiot becomes less useful for propagandists once he/she start to realise that they are and have been manipulated. When this leads to better understanding of the situation and possibly even an internal dialogue within and between sides there’s an increased chance that a non-binary non-partisan solution might be found and also sooner rather than later. The fact is that some people actually benefit from wars and it is these people who often have a hand (literally) in spreading propaganda aka the vested interests.
If russia and china get free passes because your room is too full of hate for the usa, then it's myopic, one sided and most likely just politically motivated chatter.
I don't take anyone seriously, showing such small minded, blinkered thinking. Blame and consequences should land at all deserving doors.
But do go for it – I'm clearly not the intended audience.
The cause of the war in Ukraine and many other wars and invasions, usually have nothing at all to do with the ridiculous stated reasons, like the murder of an Arch Duke, or neo-nazis in Ukraine.
Hi Adrian, you have provided us an accurate list exposing the reach and spread of the US military empire. Taken together, the US empire's record of invasions and wars around the globe is truly horrific.
But this list of US crime and global power does not account for the current situation. And the very real threat posed by Russian imperialism.
The comparative size and success of imperialist powers is not their only measure.
Let's take an analogy:
Before the Second and First World Wars, the British Empire, not the US empire was the global hegemonic super power. The crimes of the British Empire are well documented, during its reign as the world hegemon the British Empire killed an estimated 40 million people.
…..At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power.[1] By 1913 the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23 per cent of the world population at the time,[2] and by 1920 it covered 35,500,000 km2 (13,700,000 sq mi),[3] 24 per cent of the Earth's total land area.
Though the German imperialists certainly matched the British imperialists in their level of atrocity and genocide. Compared to the British Empire, the German and Nazi empires never reached anywhere near the size and reach of the British Empire.
As the eponymous character in the anti-war satire 'Black Adder' put it, compared to the British Empire all the German Empire had was a small sausage factory in Tanganyika.
Obviously an exaggeration for theatrical effect, but not that far from the truth.
But this list of US crime and global power does not account for the current situation. And the very real threat posed by Russian imperialism.
"Russian imperialism" is a figment of your imagination. Though there may have been a few imperialist efforts during Tsarist days, mostly aimed at gaining Istanbul.
Try telling the people of Syria under Russian bombing, that Russian imperialism is a figment of their imagination.
I'm not sure what the Ukranians think, and to be honest I don't think it matters. Speculations about what they might be thinking just some of the rubbish you serve up when you can't come up with a cogent argument.
Mikesh, tell me, is Chinese imperialism also a figment of my imagination?
I really have no idea, but if they are then they are doing through diplomatic channels. I don't see any reason to get upset about that.
However, I think your imagination seems a little erratic.
PS: By the way, have you read Harari's Sapiens. Harari thinks that the historical role of empires is to bring nations together, and forge a common way of life.
It is impossible to verify Ziawudun's account completely because of the severe restrictions China places on reporters in the country, but travel documents and immigration records she provided to the BBC corroborate the timeline of her story. Her descriptions of the camp in Xinyuan county – known in Uighur as Kunes county – match satellite imagery analysed by the BBC, and her descriptions of daily life inside the camp, as well as the nature and methods of the abuse, correspond with other accounts from former detainees.
Internal documents from the Kunes county justice system from 2017 and 2018, provided to the BBC by Adrian Zenz, a leading expert on China's policies in Xinjiang, detail planning and spending for "transformation through education" of "key groups" – a common euphemism in China for the indoctrination of the Uighurs. In one Kunes document, the "education" process is described as "washing brains, cleansing hearts, strengthening righteousness and eliminating evil".
The BBC also interviewed a Kazakh woman from Xinjiang who was detained for 18 months in the camp system, who said she was forced to strip Uighur women naked and handcuff them, before leaving them alone with Chinese men. Afterwards, she cleaned the rooms, she said.
"My job was to remove their clothes above the waist and handcuff them so they cannot move," said Gulzira Auelkhan, crossing her wrists behind her head to demonstrate. "Then I would leave the women in the room and a man would enter – some Chinese man from outside or policeman. I sat silently next to the door, and when the man left the room I took the woman for a shower."
The Chinese men "would pay money to have their pick of the prettiest young inmates", she said.
Some former detainees of the camps have described being forced to assist guards or face punishment. Auelkhan said she was powerless to resist or intervene.
Asked if there was a system of organised rape, she said: "Yes, rape."
"They forced me to go into that room," she said. "They forced me to take off those women's clothes and to restrain their hands and leave the room."
A budding imperial power that wants to play the "Great Game" on the world stage, first starts by colonising its hinterland and/or smaller nearest neighbours.. After it has enslaved and murdered and robbed these peoples, only then does it feel confident enough to challenge its rival imperialists on the world stage.
It's the same process followed by the British Empire began in Ireland, And the US empire with its genocidal Manifest Destiny policy against its First People Nations.
It's the pattern followed by Chinese regime against Tibet and against the Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The latest news is that the diplomatic efforts of the Chinese imperialists into the Pacific have been checked.
"I'm not sure what the Ukranians think, and to be honest I don't think it matters….."mikesh 31 May 2022 at 1:08 pm
Of course you don't think it matters what the Ukrainians think, No surprises there. Whenever has anyone, who supports imperialist war and invasions ever thought it matters what the people of the country being invaded and taken over think?
"…the historical role of empires is to bring nations together, and forge a common way of life." mikesh 31 May 2022 at 1:08 pm
That's what every supporter of imperialism, that ever was, has said.
Ghengis Khan, Cecil Rhodes, King Leopold, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hirohito and Vladimir Putin would all agree with you on that one.
Of course you don't think it matters what the Ukrainians think, No surprises there. Whenever has anyone, who supports imperialist war and invasions ever thought it matters what the people of the country being invaded and taken over think?
I would think the Ukrainians would be too worried about bombs dropping on their heads to be interested in whether or not Russia has "imperialist intentions".
Ghengis Khan, Cecil Rhodes, King Leopold, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hirohito and Vladimir Putin would all agree with you on that one
Empires are a fact of life, or a fact of history. Whether anybody supports them, or nobody supports them, is rather pointless to speculate on..
By the way, you forgot about Cyrus the Great, and also Augustus Caesar.
What gets me is that the left spent a decade tearing itself apart over how Assange was a rapist because he didn't use a condom on his morning wood – but when orders Putin the murder of a country somehow he's just a poor misunderstood vlad.
No-one is denying that what is going on in Ukraine is abhorent. Differences that countries have with one another should sorted out by negotiation, and perhaps with arbitration if a settlement cannot be reached. However, if one party (in this case, Zelenskyy) won't come to the the negotiating table, and if that party won't abide by previously arrived at agreements (like the Minsk agreements), then it's difficult to see what options the other party has, other than to declare war.
You twist yourself into pretzels trying to exculpate the murderous Putin regime.
Russia agreed in 1994 to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and national borders in return for Kyiv agreeing to give up its nuclear arsenal. ~ The Budapest Memorandum.
Russia's alternative was to abide by its agreements – now the Putin regime will be crushed – and a good thing too.
Well given that Putin had already egregiously reneged on the prior Budapest Memorandum – to your obvious satisfaction – why then do you demand Ukraine should abide by any agreement either? Why one rule for Russia and another for Ukraine?
“The key political provisions are incompatible, in my opinion, with Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign country,” said Duncan Allan, a fellow at Chatham House who specialises in the Minsk Agreements.
In his analysis, the Minsk plan for the political reintegration of Donbas was put together hastily and contains contradictory points, which has led to the two sides arguing for interpretations that are advantageous to them.
Indeed, other analysts suggest that if Kyiv was pressured into implementing Russia’s version of Minsk, there could be a severe backlash from ordinary Ukrainians that could destabilise the country internally.
Allan believes that the agreements have a “very convoluted and confused sequencing procedure”.
Under the agreements, Ukraine wants Russia and its proxy forces to withdraw and allow Ukraine to take back control of the border before the proposed local elections under international standards take place. Then, instead of granting the territories the special status that Russia has argued for, Kyiv would give the territories some extra powers but essentially incorporate them into its existing decentralisation programme.
Ukraine’s interpretation of the agreement envisions alterations to some of the prickliest political elements, but in doing so, it negates what Russia has shown it wants from Minsk – the ability to continue to control the territories and through them have a say in Ukraine’s national affairs on an ongoing basis.
If Ukraine fulfilled Russia’s interpretation of the agreements, it would give the occupied region special status. In Russia’s eyes, this would include its own police force, described as a ‘people’s militia’; the right to choose judges and prosecutors; support from Kyiv of the region’s transnational cooperation with Russia; amnesty for anyone involved in the fighting on the Russian side; and elections. All of this would happen before the Russian-controlled and Russian forces withdrew.
In essence Putin’s record of lies and betrayals means that nothing he says is of any worth whatsoever. Agreement cannot be reached with such a person.
Whatever. It doesn't excuse the bombing of Donbas. Porochenko (I assume it was him) should rather have been looking at obtaining a negotiated agreement with the Easterners.
Right there in one lazy sneering word. You don't give a shit about Ukraine so long as you get to bang the 'look how good a leftie I am for hating on the US' drum.
I assume you would rather he had returned the nukes? Really? And the initial fighting was not about borders; it was Porochenko, and later Zelenskyy, attacking their own countrymen, just because they were ethnically Russian.
It really doesn't matter how enthusiastically you repeat Putin's lies, Mikesh – Your career as a Tokyo Rose will not end in the plaudits of a grateful dictator.
I would rather Putin had stayed within his borders. No, it was not about Poroshenko and Zelensky – Russian forces had been killing Ukrainians relentlessly since 2014 – over 14 000 of them (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War) – the missing column in your mathematics of blame.
But of course it’s okay to for Russia to kill Ukrainians. They have Mikesh’s blessing.
It's a good thing that it's hard for Russia to win, since hard though that may be for you to believe, having soaked up Putin's disinformation like the rest of the poriferae, you do not face the consequence of being forced into a battle with no training, Soviet era equipment, and scant concern for your survival.
Here we can see a recent draft of Donetsk citizens mustering for battle – they entrusted little matters like self-determination to pseudo parental figures like Putin, not unlike certain childish notionally Left persons somewhat closer to home.
To paraphrase John Donne: No country is an island, Entire unto itself …
"Self determination" is all very well, but it doesn't give a country license to do whatever it likes. Ukraine has a rather powerful neighbour who may well have had grave concerns about the way it had been carrying on.
By the way I’m not acquainted with anything Putin has said, irrespective of whether it is information or disinformation.
Of course anyone with any enlightenment values necessarily reviles genocidal warmongering dictators. We notice your lack of such values.
I couldn't care less about Putin.
And yet you repeat his propaganda as enthusiastically as the Hitler Youth repeated his. This is not an appropriate forum for that – you should do that on 8chan.
It's one of life's little curiosities that Yeltsin was considered by Russians to be a sophisticate. He had the Moscow accent – whereas Gorbachev only had a record of successful and popular economic reforms in Primorye.
Turns out your better than Yeltsin president is a danger to many peaceable people in Europe, whereas Yeltsin, besides wrecking Gorbachev's reform and dooming his country to penury, was most dangerous to his own liver.
Yes, ianmac. I've cleaned some houses like that and they were sterile glass and concrete monuments to Mammon. No art on the walls save a faux French clock from a garden shop, no book shelves, a 50" TV at the end of a 15 metre glass gallery and no musical instruments.
Buy/build a small house and get some good art, books, and a piano/guitar. Whatever, but celebrate creative arts and have someone come into the house and be agreeably surprised by functional and creative beauty both.
So true Mac1. I did ask one chap why did he build such a big house overlooking the golf course. "It was what my wife wanted actually." Some people are too rich but it does seem that some big houses are as you say "sterile". A good but sad word.
Which is why the demise of the quarter acre section is so unfortunate. Which I guess is inevitable with the increase in population, but new subdivisions could be designed so that every kid gets room to play barefoot on real grass and learn about how the world and a bee both work.
Only 4br and 3 baths? That is very modest in some quarters. I spent the last years of the last NACT government processing Land Use Consents in Auckland. More like 6br and 5 bathrooms, absolutely maximising the "building envelope" and concreting us as much of the site as the impervious areas rules would permit. I rang one agent who had sent in something with 6br, all with en-suite bathrooms – and an extra bathroom, and said I wanted in writing that they were not building a brothel. I got the statement – but I find it hard to believe that was any sort of family home.
We have one next door. The owners built an 'extension' which more than doubled the size of the house. Went from 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 living area; to 7 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 3 living areas & an internal double garage.
Now has 12+ students living there (including living in the garage). With at least 6 cars parked on the road outside.
If you can, get a copy of Tony Watkins – The Human House.
A NZ architect, and column writer, the book is a series of articles about the human investment in crafting a house to suit your own personality and interests.
I found a copy in my library, and re-read it several times.
I'll admit that despite our tight budget, I ended up buying a copy of the book.
I'm usually a purchaser of library withdrawals and second hand books, but it was nice to indulge in purchasing new knowing that some of the funds would make their way to Tony Watkins.
Very good thread on some of the problems with replacing sex with gender identity in surveys and data collection used to inform policy and law. How does one name the GI of a baby, young child, or child who cannot speak etc?
From an interview with Jordan Carter, outgoing chief executive of Internet NZ:
“The Russian state, for quite a long time, has made use of some of the vulnerabilities of this social media environment to intervene in other countries. They seem to say: ‘Well, we can't ever win a head-on confrontation with the liberal democracies, but we can use these systems they've built to undermine their social and political cohesion.’
"That's a risk people are waking up to,” he said.
“Ever since publishing was invented you've had people publishing bizarre opinions. The problem isn't when some person chooses to express ‘random view X’ they might or might not agree with. The problem is when their systems amplify it in a way that then creates social divisions that weren't necessarily there.
"Media systems have fastened on to the most controversial and polarizing views, and then just keep stirring them up in a way that draws people apart from each other,” he said.
Hot off the press….sitting with an injured relative in Ed. Here since mid day. Corridors full of patients. Staff, calm and kind.
a plea to the Labour govt, stop spending money on earnest and young consultants and re structures. Increase staff numbers and pay. This is what with improve our health system
At Middlemore (3 weeks ago, friend with an injured teen – potential neck/spine injury from an accidental tackle in touch rugby)
Only one support person per patient allowed (a bit of a fuss from some families)
All patients and support people given RAT tests
Everyone had to wear a mask. People who didn't want to were seen elsewhere (removed, not sure where they went – but not in the general waiting room)
Anyone with a positive RAT (regardless of other symptoms) was separated out (friend didn't see where they went, as she was in the non-infected group)
People lying on floors, in corridors, etc. Simply not enough space for the demand.
Time taken to see a doctor with (even with a potentially crippling spinal injury) was 12 hours + radiology time + final interview with the doctor.
Because of the delay in getting the scan – there was a lot of swelling, and they weren't able to get a clear picture – there was still a possibility of a break; but they were sent home at 3am (ambulance, so teen could keep lying flat and wearing the neck brace), because there were no beds to admit him for observation.
Staff were lovely. Clearly doing their best under immense pressure. As is so common in ED, plenty of people under the influence of drugs/alcohol, off-meds or with some form of psychotic breakdown, stupidly aggressive personally or their support people were; as well as heartbreaking cases of kids who clearly needed emergency care for something which could have been treated earlier (but parents couldn't afford/get access to care)
Outcome. Teen didn't have a neck/spinal injury (thank heavens), but did have 2 ribs with intercostal dislocations, a whiplash style neck muscle injury, and severe bruising around the whole ribcage.
Difficult to tell. Suspect staff shortages (overall), compounded by staff shortages due to staff either isolating themselves with Covid, or as a family contact. All made worse by increased demand on ED: some people using it as a GP – because cost; and health conditions in general just worse after care deferred due to lockdowns.
Covid protocols in Wellington ED far more relaxed Han you write of Bella.
I was screened at the door, but just questioned did I have covid or a household member. I told them I had had some exposure with a couple of contacts socially, but they weren’t interested. No rat tests.
everyone wore masks.
there were beds both sides of the corridors, so not as much social distancing as ideal.
my husband who was injured wasn’t given a RAT test.
I know proceedures were a lot tighter in Wellington when omicron was peaking.
I can’t speak highly enough of the staff. They were the epitaxy of grace under pressure
Also need to make exclusive supply relationships (by contract) illegal.
This is where the small, local supplier is locked into a supply deal (often disadvantageously) by one of the big chains; and is contractually prevented from also selling (perhaps at better terms) to the other.
It puts all of the power in the relationship with the big supermarket chain.
The little guys are stuck in a take-it-or-leave it deal, and are unable to leverage sales to negotiate a better deal with the competitor.
Just done a mini-shop this afternoon (Mr 14 is getting braces fitted tomorrow, so stocking up on easy to eat supplies). Ouch. Prices have gone up again in the last fortnight.
New Zealand's capital, Wellington, has been ranked one of the least affordable cities in the world for buying a property. The picture is also grim for renters, with a 12% rise in prices in the past year. That, along with increases in petrol and food prices, has led many to consider moving to nearby Australia – where they have the right to live and work.
Chris, a builder, his partner Harmony and their four daughters recently left Wellington to start a new life in the Australian city of Brisbane. Despite owning their home and earning reasonable salaries, they were still struggling.
"We have four kids, so it was expensive. We'd notice Australians saying you know the cost of living is going up – but that was the cost five years ago in New Zealand," says Chris.
Leaving New Zealand and the rest of her family was a difficult decision for Harmony. But she says the move was necessary for the children.
"You can't make a living in New Zealand. There is no living. You just go backwards. You don't get a choice if you want live, you have to move, or New Zealand has to change. I want a future for my children and there is none in New Zealand," she says.
The New Zealand government has tried to increase some short-term measures like fuel subsidies and halving the cost of public transport – but for many, it's not enough.
When ACT gets in with National they'll be against the Government having anything to do with supermarkets won't they? A 'super' market being one where the Government totally butts out, and it is a 'free' market. Isn't that it?
No budget bump for Labour in tonight's poll. Maybe if they would start listening to kiwis instead of talking to them, they would still be favourite's for a third term.
Kiwis don't want Three waters, co-governance or the Maori health authority. People are also crumbling under the weight of the cost of living crisis. What's Labours answer? push through with divisive policy and offer a token amount of money to half the population, which will effectively achieve nothing.
Next years budget must be a doozy. Reap what you sow!
Results are +\3% so too close to call for either Left or Right.
But agree, no bump in support for Labour following the budget (which I suspect they would have been hoping for) – and what looks like leaking of their left-wing over to the Greens (which will make some commenters here happy).
Maybe if they started listening to kiwis they wouldn't do anything like Three Waters or address the serious issues with Maori health, just let things carry on as they are.
Woe betide them if they listen to experts who say there are serious issues to be dealt with and actually try to do something.
Of course we know they've done nothing with housing. The many new houses I see in Selwyn, Waimakariri, Franklin, Waitakere, Rodney, Whangarei and wherever are all mirages I know.
The Democracy Project releases another work of independent scholarship timed with an opposition attack on a female, Maori, Labour politician, after previously having work supporting Michael Bassett.
Unsuprisingly the work basically runs Winston Peters (another specifically non-racist figure in NZ politics) attacks on Nanaia Mahuta. Mahuta has suffered all kinds of racist and sexist bs since assuming her role, including attacks on her moko. Gerry Brownlee gets treated with reverence of a statesman, despite being turfed out of his electorate after he started a few steps down the path of American style Covid politics.
The piece tries to link a series of hit jobs on 3 Waters with foreign affairs. It’s too much for her.
It ignores the work Mahuta does and has been doing or discounts it with criticism.
It lauds the (week old) work of the new foreign minister of Australia, but ignores the government of Australia Mahuta had been working with.
It ignores the Covid issues the PM is having in get US, as it dismisses Covid concerns for less international travel.
In the sneaky way it presents as journalism, but by listing as ‘opinion’ it can simply repeat or line up one sided criticism without having to get a response from the minister or the government.
The underlying message of the piece is that anything we’ve done is bad and anything done elsewhere is good.
The piece seems to suggest that NZ should be operating separately to its allies and that dropping in on the Solomons would have solved all the tension in the region.
It is a piece of immense cultural cringe. Look how brilliant that Australian minister is because she took a face to face meeting! Neglect to report that our foreign minister was in Fiji in April. Neglect to report, except in criticism of it, that the derided zoom meeting that actually achieved the clear outcome of extending NZ presence in the Solomons. And that off the back of that she will be visiting Solomons.
It repeats Peter’s criticism in embedded tweet that the PM is ‘swanning around the world’, a somewhat sexist way of representing her US trip, you know meeting the head of the other main power in the Pacific during a time of crisis, while deriding Mahuta for not traveling. If a Labour woman does it, it’s swanning around I guess.
It sneaks in little phrases like’To be fair to Mahuta’ after 7 or 8 paragraphs of mostly unfair or poorly contextualised criticism to give the illusion of journalism, while presenting the least charitable possible view of her work.
To add to that- it ignores the criticism of ScoMo by Fiji’s PM, using the language of the Pacific Family from the recent NZ agreement, as opposed to ScoMo’s neo -colonial phrase of the Pacific being in Australia’s backyard.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Doesn't sound like the TVNZ HR department did very good background checking on this bloke. Be interesting to see who they replace John Campbell with now.
Kamahl Santamaria quits TVNZ: Breakfast show hosts address 'the changes' after host's abrupt departure – NZ Herald
Yesterday the article on Stuff contained a snippet that he'd faced similar accusations working at Al Jazeera. Was very quickly removed.
About sums it up.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-american-polity-is-cracked-and-might-collapse-canada-must-prepare/
U.S. the most war like country on Earth…..
USA; 750 military bases around the World
China; 3 military bases around the World
Russia; 8 military bases around the World
Military budget of the United States 801 Billion (population 329.5 million )
Military budget of China 261 Billion (population 1.402 billion)
Military budget of Russia 66 Billion (population 144.1 million )
And we all know the truly impressive and extremely long list of countries in which the US has conducted hostile incursions into another country's territories….and lets not even start with the USA's role in meddling in other countries elections….that list would be just ridiculous……., and yet people on this very site will scream at the top of their lungs…FEAR RUSSIA….FEAR CHINA…..
Like most of their rhetoric…logic, common sense (and historical evidence) has to be completely ignored in order to join their new Cold War Club…..unfortunately it seems like they are getting plenty of takers now that Putin has wrongly and stupidly given them the gift of the Ukraine….millions of deaths, untold misery and destruction caused and still being caused by ultra aggressive US/Western militarism…forgotten quite literally in the blink of an eye…..
Putin launched this war precisely because he thought the US was weak and not going to intervene.
At the beginning of this year most people thought it unlikely Urkaine would be invaded – yet here we are. And now Russia is rightly feared and loathed for its vile invasion.
China continues to threaten to invade Taiwan, and are openly pre-positioning themselves to do so. Only a complete fool would could now claim this is unlikely. Indeed you only have to look at their insanely provocative actions in the South Pacific to understand precisely what their intentions are. As a result China is also rightly feared and loathed for continuing down this same medieval, war-mongering path as Russia.
Adrian's undeniable cheerleading for these totalitarian regimes and the neo-colonial invasions they promote renders anything he says about US history to meaningless partisan blather. More to the point – if he lived in Russia or China and was saying comparable things against those regimes, he would very likely be shut down and pay a high cost for it. That he feels free to abuse the relative freedom of speech that he enjoys here in the West to undermine and betray the open society he has the remarkable privilege to live in underscores a profound ignorance and moral bankruptcy.
I watched a wee animation of Japan's Pacific expansion from 1931 and I was pretty chilled by the recognition of China's moves this decade.
Bad news for the fish, too.
https://twitter.com/CleoPaskal/status/1529297600876273667
What is chilling about that map is the 8 USA areas, doubtless all equipped for military use.
Worked well last time.
" Putin launched this war " etc etc
Alternatively Putin launched his SMO because he recognized America's power play in the ukraine and doing nothing about it was'nt an option .
Agree most observers in the west thought he was'nt going to invade but now that has occurred a great many counties arround the world have some sympathies for the Russian perspective and its predicament ie America's openly stated intention to 'weaken ' Russia . Those countries include China obviously plus India and probably Pakistan South Africa Iran Venezuela Mexico and numerous others .
I had a humorous thought that probably all Reds mum would have had to do when he was an infant was whistle Dixie to get him to suckle vigorously !
Russia even invented a phrase for it.
In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically used by the cause's leaders.[1][2] The term was originally used during the Cold War to describe non-communists regarded as susceptible to communist propaganda and manipulation.
So when both sides can accuse the other of exactly the same 'useful idiot ' term is anything achieved Alien ?
Like being lectured by an anti vaxxer on healthcare or global warming by a cc denier lol
Fine example of false equivalence with a dash of desperation ! lol
Fit "fake news" and "alternative facts" in your next reply and collect your 25 bonus putin points.
Throwing propaganda and unhelpful labels at each other leads to more widespread confusion and division, not just between sides, but also within sides and this is often one of the objectives of propaganda – it becomes self-reinforcing.
A useful idiot becomes less useful for propagandists once he/she start to realise that they are and have been manipulated. When this leads to better understanding of the situation and possibly even an internal dialogue within and between sides there’s an increased chance that a non-binary non-partisan solution might be found and also sooner rather than later. The fact is that some people actually benefit from wars and it is these people who often have a hand (literally) in spreading propaganda aka the vested interests.
But not you, and the handful like you, who only seem to have the mental capacity to fear the united states.
The USA are easily the biggest war mongers on the planet by a very comfortable margin any body disputing this fact cant even do simple math .
And because of that, you can't make space inside your head to condemn russia and china? Bless.
I notice you've left out Turkmenistan in your condemnations. What's your point?
The point lol
If russia and china get free passes because your room is too full of hate for the usa, then it's myopic, one sided and most likely just politically motivated chatter.
I don't take anyone seriously, showing such small minded, blinkered thinking. Blame and consequences should land at all deserving doors.
But do go for it – I'm clearly not the intended audience.
The cause of the war in Ukraine and many other wars and invasions, usually have nothing at all to do with the ridiculous stated reasons, like the murder of an Arch Duke, or neo-nazis in Ukraine.
Hi Adrian, you have provided us an accurate list exposing the reach and spread of the US military empire. Taken together, the US empire's record of invasions and wars around the globe is truly horrific.
But this list of US crime and global power does not account for the current situation. And the very real threat posed by Russian imperialism.
The comparative size and success of imperialist powers is not their only measure.
Let's take an analogy:
Before the Second and First World Wars, the British Empire, not the US empire was the global hegemonic super power. The crimes of the British Empire are well documented, during its reign as the world hegemon the British Empire killed an estimated 40 million people.
"The law of murder is the law of growth." 19th Century British Imperialist, Winwood Reade
Though the German imperialists certainly matched the British imperialists in their level of atrocity and genocide. Compared to the British Empire, the German and Nazi empires never reached anywhere near the size and reach of the British Empire.
As the eponymous character in the anti-war satire 'Black Adder' put it, compared to the British Empire all the German Empire had was a small sausage factory in Tanganyika.
Obviously an exaggeration for theatrical effect, but not that far from the truth.
The cause of war?
My conclusion is that 99% of war is simply about taking somebody else's stuff.
But this list of US crime and global power does not account for the current situation. And the very real threat posed by Russian imperialism.
"Russian imperialism" is a figment of your imagination. Though there may have been a few imperialist efforts during Tsarist days, mostly aimed at gaining Istanbul.
Try telling the people of Ukraine under Russian bombing, that Russian imperialism is a figment of their imagination.
Try telling the people of Syria under Russian bombing, that Russian imperialism is a figment of their imagination.
How Russian denial of civilian casualties follows tactics used in Syria
Mikesh, tell me, is Chinese imperialism also a figment of my imagination?
Try telling the people of Syria under Russian bombing, that Russian imperialism is a figment of their imagination.
I'm not sure what the Ukranians think, and to be honest I don't think it matters. Speculations about what they might be thinking just some of the rubbish you serve up when you can't come up with a cogent argument.
Mikesh, tell me, is Chinese imperialism also a figment of my imagination?
I really have no idea, but if they are then they are doing through diplomatic channels. I don't see any reason to get upset about that.
However, I think your imagination seems a little erratic.
PS: By the way, have you read Harari's Sapiens. Harari thinks that the historical role of empires is to bring nations together, and forge a common way of life.
but if they are then they are doing through diplomatic channels
The Uighurs might not agree: Xinjiang leak reveals extent of Chinese abuses in Uighur camps | News | Al Jazeera
I think Jenny is referring to China's incursions into the Pacific.
I expect that she is as concerned by oppression within Chinese borders as she is with oppression outside them.
That would be noble of her if such oppression did exist.
The BBC just published the documents that show it exists.
All fake news of course:
Nothing to see here.
'The BBC just published documents
that show it exists.'FIFY Stuart
Brigid LOL at state sponsored genocide.
Brigid makes a typo.
I think the word you were looking for Brigid, was applaud, not appal.
Here, let me fix it for you.
"….I
appal[applaud] violence in all its forms,including[especially] state sanctioned murder." BrigidLOL This, you fascist bitch.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/27/massacre-in-tadamon-how-two-academics-hunted-down-a-syrian-war-criminal.
[A blatant lie: “Brigid LOL at state sponsored genocide.” Brigid did not say or imply such a thing in her comment.
Dredging up old comment threads without providing relevant context – old grievances.
Twisting somebody else’s words aka putting words in their mouth.
FYI, appal is a verb.
Not making a single political point for discussion.
Personal insult and attack – old grievances.
Take a week off – Incognito]
Mod note
It is indicative of your sincerity as a commenter, that you dismiss a substantial body of evidence without even a cursory look.
For shame Brigid.
May the day never come when you are oppressed, and internationals who might have mustered to your defense simply cannot be bothered.
Who Knows. Still, nice deflection on your part, albeit a bit sneaky.
What I think:
A budding imperial power that wants to play the "Great Game" on the world stage, first starts by colonising its hinterland and/or smaller nearest neighbours.. After it has enslaved and murdered and robbed these peoples, only then does it feel confident enough to challenge its rival imperialists on the world stage.
It's the same process followed by the British Empire began in Ireland, And the US empire with its genocidal Manifest Destiny policy against its First People Nations.
It's the pattern followed by Chinese regime against Tibet and against the Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The latest news is that the diplomatic efforts of the Chinese imperialists into the Pacific have been checked.
Of course you don't think it matters what the Ukrainians think, No surprises there. Whenever has anyone, who supports imperialist war and invasions ever thought it matters what the people of the country being invaded and taken over think?
That's what every supporter of imperialism, that ever was, has said.
Ghengis Khan, Cecil Rhodes, King Leopold, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hirohito and Vladimir Putin would all agree with you on that one.
Of course you don't think it matters what the Ukrainians think, No surprises there. Whenever has anyone, who supports imperialist war and invasions ever thought it matters what the people of the country being invaded and taken over think?
I would think the Ukrainians would be too worried about bombs dropping on their heads to be interested in whether or not Russia has "imperialist intentions".
Ghengis Khan, Cecil Rhodes, King Leopold, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hirohito and Vladimir Putin would all agree with you on that one
Empires are a fact of life, or a fact of history. Whether anybody supports them, or nobody supports them, is rather pointless to speculate on..
By the way, you forgot about Cyrus the Great, and also Augustus Caesar.
From Finland and the Baltic states to Moldova, from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia to Siberia, Manchuria and Alaska.
Just a few imperialist efforts.
/
So… ? No-one doubts that Russia is already an empire.
Listen to the truth about Putin, Wormtongue.
She was killed for it of course.
What gets me is that the left spent a decade tearing itself apart over how Assange was a rapist because he didn't use a condom on his morning wood – but when orders Putin the murder of a country somehow he's just a poor misunderstood vlad.
No one is saying US military behaviour is marvellous.
But this "whataboutism" does nothing to excuse the mass murder / rape / destruction Russia is inflicting in the independent democracy of Ukraine.
Nor does it excuse mass persecution of Uyghurs by China.
No-one is denying that what is going on in Ukraine is abhorent. Differences that countries have with one another should sorted out by negotiation, and perhaps with arbitration if a settlement cannot be reached. However, if one party (in this case, Zelenskyy) won't come to the the negotiating table, and if that party won't abide by previously arrived at agreements (like the Minsk agreements), then it's difficult to see what options the other party has, other than to declare war.
You twist yourself into pretzels trying to exculpate the murderous Putin regime.
Russia agreed in 1994 to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and national borders in return for Kyiv agreeing to give up its nuclear arsenal. ~ The Budapest Memorandum.
Russia's alternative was to abide by its agreements – now the Putin regime will be crushed – and a good thing too.
Ukraine also signed up to the Minsk Agreements. But that didn't seem to stop Zelenskyy's minions bombing the Donbas region.
now the Putin regime will be crushed – and a good thing too.
Yes. It's hard to win when your opponent has the brutal and corrupt US regime on your side, supplying you with weapons.
Well given that Putin had already egregiously reneged on the prior Budapest Memorandum – to your obvious satisfaction – why then do you demand Ukraine should abide by any agreement either? Why one rule for Russia and another for Ukraine?
And while the terms of the Budapest agreement were always crystal clear and uncontroversial – the Minsk agreement was quite the opposite:
In essence Putin’s record of lies and betrayals means that nothing he says is of any worth whatsoever. Agreement cannot be reached with such a person.
Whatever. It doesn't excuse the bombing of Donbas. Porochenko (I assume it was him) should rather have been looking at obtaining a negotiated agreement with the Easterners.
Whatever …
Right there in one lazy sneering word. You don't give a shit about Ukraine so long as you get to bang the 'look how good a leftie I am for hating on the US' drum.
Was that an argument? Looked more like a sneering ad hominem to me. And I never claimed to be a leftie FWIW.
The Budapest Agreement was not Putin's agreement. That would been that drunken sot who preceded him.
Not bound by it eh?
Did he return the nukes? No?
Just another dishonorable warmonger then.
And you, God help you, are his Wormtongue.
I assume you would rather he had returned the nukes? Really? And the initial fighting was not about borders; it was Porochenko, and later Zelenskyy, attacking their own countrymen, just because they were ethnically Russian.
It really doesn't matter how enthusiastically you repeat Putin's lies, Mikesh – Your career as a Tokyo Rose will not end in the plaudits of a grateful dictator.
I would rather Putin had stayed within his borders. No, it was not about Poroshenko and Zelensky – Russian forces had been killing Ukrainians relentlessly since 2014 – over 14 000 of them (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War) – the missing column in your mathematics of blame.
But of course it’s okay to for Russia to kill Ukrainians. They have Mikesh’s blessing.
Has Putin been telling whoppers. I wouldn't know. I don't think I have heard he has said recently.
It's a good thing that it's hard for Russia to win, since hard though that may be for you to believe, having soaked up Putin's disinformation like the rest of the poriferae, you do not face the consequence of being forced into a battle with no training, Soviet era equipment, and scant concern for your survival.
Here we can see a recent draft of Donetsk citizens mustering for battle – they entrusted little matters like self-determination to pseudo parental figures like Putin, not unlike certain childish notionally Left persons somewhat closer to home.
To paraphrase John Donne: No country is an island, Entire unto itself …
"Self determination" is all very well, but it doesn't give a country license to do whatever it likes. Ukraine has a rather powerful neighbour who may well have had grave concerns about the way it had been carrying on.
By the way I’m not acquainted with anything Putin has said, irrespective of whether it is information or disinformation.
By the way I’m not acquainted with anything Putin has said
Of course you are – you just got it second or third hand.
You have a visceral hatred for Putin. I get that. I couldn't care less about Putin. All my comments are concerned with the goings on in Ukraine.
Though I think I said I said somewhere that I thought Putin a better ruler than the drunken sot who preceded him.
Of course anyone with any enlightenment values necessarily reviles genocidal warmongering dictators. We notice your lack of such values.
I couldn't care less about Putin.
And yet you repeat his propaganda as enthusiastically as the Hitler Youth repeated his. This is not an appropriate forum for that – you should do that on 8chan.
It's one of life's little curiosities that Yeltsin was considered by Russians to be a sophisticate. He had the Moscow accent – whereas Gorbachev only had a record of successful and popular economic reforms in Primorye.
Turns out your better than Yeltsin president is a danger to many peaceable people in Europe, whereas Yeltsin, besides wrecking Gorbachev's reform and dooming his country to penury, was most dangerous to his own liver.
Well I'm sure Comrade Putin doesn't like you very much either. With good reason,
Another example of the effects of this homophobic cult.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/29/if-lesbian-prefers-same-sex-dates-thats-not-bigotry-desire-personal-thing?fbclid=IwAR0b7LFokaFo0v1m0Nwue0KgUjDhwY_-23TuxILtj7sHaLzCWY8Zy2WRD4Q
The capture of NGOS,institutions, government departments and 'advisors' is the concern.
Individuals spouting nonsense can be managed with some effort.
It it when such perspectives emerge fully formed in political discourse and legislative and policy changes that the scale of the problem is revealed.
Housing crisis solutions, tiny homes, climate mitigation and adaptation are all connected.
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1531035728871759873
Some couples build 4+ bedroom houses with 3+ bathrooms with a footprint of 300+ square metre. "What the…."
Then I look at the charming functional Madrid house and think "Wow!"
Yes, ianmac. I've cleaned some houses like that and they were sterile glass and concrete monuments to Mammon. No art on the walls save a faux French clock from a garden shop, no book shelves, a 50" TV at the end of a 15 metre glass gallery and no musical instruments.
Buy/build a small house and get some good art, books, and a piano/guitar. Whatever, but celebrate creative arts and have someone come into the house and be agreeably surprised by functional and creative beauty both.
They are allowed a BBQ, though…..
So true Mac1. I did ask one chap why did he build such a big house overlooking the golf course. "It was what my wife wanted actually." Some people are too rich but it does seem that some big houses are as you say "sterile". A good but sad word.
And a shed. Where you can teach the kids wood work and how an internal combustion engine works
And a garden where you can teach the children about how the world and a bee both work.
Which is why the demise of the quarter acre section is so unfortunate. Which I guess is inevitable with the increase in population, but new subdivisions could be designed so that every kid gets room to play barefoot on real grass and learn about how the world and a bee both work.
my house is a small two bedroom cottage. its too big. my shed is a large eight car sized. its too small.(i have one car only)
There is a resource consent application for a house in Wanaka measuring 2,458m2 now under consideration by the Council. My own 3br house is 140m2.
Only 4br and 3 baths? That is very modest in some quarters. I spent the last years of the last NACT government processing Land Use Consents in Auckland. More like 6br and 5 bathrooms, absolutely maximising the "building envelope" and concreting us as much of the site as the impervious areas rules would permit. I rang one agent who had sent in something with 6br, all with en-suite bathrooms – and an extra bathroom, and said I wanted in writing that they were not building a brothel. I got the statement – but I find it hard to believe that was any sort of family home.
I think more areas than concrete are being shown to be impervious here…… to rain, family, sun, gardens, birds, trees, beauty, life itself!
We have one next door. The owners built an 'extension' which more than doubled the size of the house. Went from 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 living area; to 7 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 3 living areas & an internal double garage.
Now has 12+ students living there (including living in the garage). With at least 6 cars parked on the road outside.
If you can, get a copy of Tony Watkins – The Human House.
A NZ architect, and column writer, the book is a series of articles about the human investment in crafting a house to suit your own personality and interests.
I found a copy in my library, and re-read it several times.
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/celebrating-the-human-house/
Thanks for the link Molly, a great read.
I'll admit that despite our tight budget, I ended up buying a copy of the book.
I'm usually a purchaser of library withdrawals and second hand books, but it was nice to indulge in purchasing new knowing that some of the funds would make their way to Tony Watkins.
Very good thread on some of the problems with replacing sex with gender identity in surveys and data collection used to inform policy and law. How does one name the GI of a baby, young child, or child who cannot speak etc?
https://twitter.com/threditor/status/1530861976141848580
And the Scottish Census people are threatening to prosecute people who "deface" (tell the truth) on an already low response rate Census.
excellent opportunity for some public civil disobedience there.
The entitlement is strong.
/
Rusny stole a ps4 from a man from Mariupol, and now he writes to the mail and asks for a password from the account.
https://twitter.com/OstAnatoliy/status/1530817634060607493
When the toy fits.
https://twitter.com/expatua/status/1525024848698916865
https://twitter.com/Sputnik_Not/status/1530521234269667329
From an interview with Jordan Carter, outgoing chief executive of Internet NZ:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018843101/two-decades-of-internet-disruption
Heard it all before but it needs repeating, over and over again.
Hot off the press….sitting with an injured relative in Ed. Here since mid day. Corridors full of patients. Staff, calm and kind.
a plea to the Labour govt, stop spending money on earnest and young consultants and re structures. Increase staff numbers and pay. This is what with improve our health system
Amen! From your lips to Little's ears.
what are they doing with people with respiratory symptoms?
At Middlemore (3 weeks ago, friend with an injured teen – potential neck/spine injury from an accidental tackle in touch rugby)
Outcome. Teen didn't have a neck/spinal injury (thank heavens), but did have 2 ribs with intercostal dislocations, a whiplash style neck muscle injury, and severe bruising around the whole ribcage.
Ouch, that's still not a fun injury.
The covid protocol is encouraging. Are the excessive waits due to staff shortages?
Difficult to tell. Suspect staff shortages (overall), compounded by staff shortages due to staff either isolating themselves with Covid, or as a family contact. All made worse by increased demand on ED: some people using it as a GP – because cost; and health conditions in general just worse after care deferred due to lockdowns.
This is the government going against the supermarkets. Catherine Rich can stick it in her ear.
Government Acts On Supermarket Duopoly | Scoop News
· Will introduce:
o An industry regulator
o A mandatory code of conduct
o Compulsory unit pricing on groceries
o More transparent loyalty schemes
And rejected the Commerce Commission's 3 year timetable.
Let's see what The Warehouse can do with that.
Also need to make exclusive supply relationships (by contract) illegal.
This is where the small, local supplier is locked into a supply deal (often disadvantageously) by one of the big chains; and is contractually prevented from also selling (perhaps at better terms) to the other.
It puts all of the power in the relationship with the big supermarket chain.
The little guys are stuck in a take-it-or-leave it deal, and are unable to leverage sales to negotiate a better deal with the competitor.
Just done a mini-shop this afternoon (Mr 14 is getting braces fitted tomorrow, so stocking up on easy to eat supplies). Ouch. Prices have gone up again in the last fortnight.
From a world report about rising costs
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-61584608
It's been that way for a good while. About half the extended family are now in Oz – and all of them are prospering. Here, not so much.
When ACT gets in with National they'll be against the Government having anything to do with supermarkets won't they? A 'super' market being one where the Government totally butts out, and it is a 'free' market. Isn't that it?
No budget bump for Labour in tonight's poll. Maybe if they would start listening to kiwis instead of talking to them, they would still be favourite's for a third term.
Kiwis don't want Three waters, co-governance or the Maori health authority. People are also crumbling under the weight of the cost of living crisis. What's Labours answer? push through with divisive policy and offer a token amount of money to half the population, which will effectively achieve nothing.
Next years budget must be a doozy. Reap what you sow!
Results are +\3% so too close to call for either Left or Right.
But agree, no bump in support for Labour following the budget (which I suspect they would have been hoping for) – and what looks like leaking of their left-wing over to the Greens (which will make some commenters here happy).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/128805700/political-poll-has-labour-national-close-while-mori-party-remains-kingmaker
Maybe if they started listening to kiwis they wouldn't do anything like Three Waters or address the serious issues with Maori health, just let things carry on as they are.
Woe betide them if they listen to experts who say there are serious issues to be dealt with and actually try to do something.
Of course we know they've done nothing with housing. The many new houses I see in Selwyn, Waimakariri, Franklin, Waitakere, Rodney, Whangarei and wherever are all mirages I know.
The Democracy Project releases another work of independent scholarship timed with an opposition attack on a female, Maori, Labour politician, after previously having work supporting Michael Bassett.
Unsuprisingly the work basically runs Winston Peters (another specifically non-racist figure in NZ politics) attacks on Nanaia Mahuta. Mahuta has suffered all kinds of racist and sexist bs since assuming her role, including attacks on her moko. Gerry Brownlee gets treated with reverence of a statesman, despite being turfed out of his electorate after he started a few steps down the path of American style Covid politics.
The piece tries to link a series of hit jobs on 3 Waters with foreign affairs. It’s too much for her.
It ignores the work Mahuta does and has been doing or discounts it with criticism.
It lauds the (week old) work of the new foreign minister of Australia, but ignores the government of Australia Mahuta had been working with.
It ignores the Covid issues the PM is having in get US, as it dismisses Covid concerns for less international travel.
In the sneaky way it presents as journalism, but by listing as ‘opinion’ it can simply repeat or line up one sided criticism without having to get a response from the minister or the government.
The underlying message of the piece is that anything we’ve done is bad and anything done elsewhere is good.
The piece seems to suggest that NZ should be operating separately to its allies and that dropping in on the Solomons would have solved all the tension in the region.
It is a piece of immense cultural cringe. Look how brilliant that Australian minister is because she took a face to face meeting! Neglect to report that our foreign minister was in Fiji in April. Neglect to report, except in criticism of it, that the derided zoom meeting that actually achieved the clear outcome of extending NZ presence in the Solomons. And that off the back of that she will be visiting Solomons.
It repeats Peter’s criticism in embedded tweet that the PM is ‘swanning around the world’, a somewhat sexist way of representing her US trip, you know meeting the head of the other main power in the Pacific during a time of crisis, while deriding Mahuta for not traveling. If a Labour woman does it, it’s swanning around I guess.
It sneaks in little phrases like’To be fair to Mahuta’ after 7 or 8 paragraphs of mostly unfair or poorly contextualised criticism to give the illusion of journalism, while presenting the least charitable possible view of her work.
Anyway, what a crock. Again.
Miller from the Democracy Project in Stuff
To add to that- it ignores the criticism of ScoMo by Fiji’s PM, using the language of the Pacific Family from the recent NZ agreement, as opposed to ScoMo’s neo -colonial phrase of the Pacific being in Australia’s backyard.